


Loyalty Unto Death

by PiercedButterfly



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Character Study, Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22682224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PiercedButterfly/pseuds/PiercedButterfly
Summary: Something unexpected happens that causes Zagreus to try and understand better who Thanatos is as a person.(Hades spoilers include the identity of the Final Boss and references to things that happen deep into the relationship with Thanatos!)
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 212





	Loyalty Unto Death

Zagreus climbed out of the Pool of Styx, Mort clutched stiffly in one disbelieving hand. He barely heard Hypnos's exclamation of "Redacted again?" on his way to the end of West Hall. Hypnos had been too focused on the strange list entry to notice what Zagreus was holding, but Achilles missed nothing.

"What ails you, lad?"

A quick glance proved the spot by the railing empty anyway. Zagreus turned to face his old mentor.

"You were close, were you not?" Achilles continued. "You fought him again?"

Yes, he had been. And yes, he had expected it to go differently. The first time battling his father, he had been too preoccupied by the sheer intensity of that giant spear's attack to even think about using his recently acquired summon. Admittedly, part of him had also thought that he and he alone should be the one to bring down his father. But this time, he had been so close, on the verge of victory even as he was on the verge of defeat, and he had just needed one final push, so he...

Zagreus wasn't usually one to talk about anything like this, to dwell on something negative, to speak of someone (especially _this_ someone) behind his back, but the shock of what had just happened and the easy familiarity of confiding troubles in Achilles made the words tumble out. "Than is always busy, but... he comes if I call." Unconsciously, Mort was squeezed just a little tighter. "I thought… even against _him_..."

But Than hadn't come. And there was no believing that this was the one time that he had been truly too busy to answer. Than was so often there even when Zagreus _didn't_ call for him. Zagreus hadn't taken it for granted in the beginning. That time Zagreus had finally slayed more shades, and Than had said Zagreus could take care of himself, Zagreus had thought the other wouldn't come help him out anymore. Than had been quick to disabuse him of that notion. _Very_ quick. It was then that Zagreus had truly started to accept that Than would always be there for him...

And then he wasn't.

Achilles's gentle voice broke into his thoughts.

"Well, lad, would you think of him the same if he did?"

\---

The question filled Zagreus's mind as he paced in his room, Mort still held but carefully now. Than was loyal to him, yes, but he was also loyal to his father. Was that contradictory? Mutually exclusive? Or should that "but" be an "and"? If Than had come to aid Zagreus in killing his father, that would have been a likely irrevocable betrayal of such loyalty.

And... something about that didn't sit quite right, now that he thought about it. With a swooping feeling of revelation in his gut, Zagreus realized that Than betraying his father so completely was as unthinkable as Than betraying him. Than was loyal to Zagreus, but his loyalty wasn't _about_ Zagreus, and Zagreus shouldn't have expected it to be, any more than he would expect it to be about his father. Than's loyalty was about Thanatos himself, _of_ Thanatos himself: a staunch pillar of his character at the core of who _he_ was, not anybody else.

In the grand scheme of things, it almost seemed silly to have felt, even subconsciously, that Thanatos's loyalty might be reserved for Zagreus. It shone through to millions, to billions more outside this house: death arrived for every mortal, without fail. Even they invoked his name when making vows. (Were they aware at all, how much like offering up prayers to a god that was, in hindsight?) Zagreus heard from shades milling about, holding tightly onto the memory of those important parts of their lives: _Loyalty unto death. Until death do us part._ Such phrases might frame death as the breaker of bonds, but no, that was the God of the Dead, his father, who kept apart Orpheus and Eurydice, Achilles and Patroclus... not Death himself. Death was the final witness to such loyalties lived out, the sign that you had made it to the end, fulfilling an unspoken pledge in return by the clean arc of a scythe. Death came for all.

And now, in a glow of green light, he had come for Zagreus. Here, too, there was a promise, Zagreus thought as his gaze traced Than's features. Was this what it was like for mortals? He could no more see into his future than they could, but they went with Death anyway, knowing something _more_ was beyond. What new world awaited Zag, that he might visit together with Than?

"Than."

Whatever Than had expected to come back to, it did not appear to be the soft way Zagreus spoke his name just now. He had looked ready to face whatever questioning or worse that might come from Zagreus for not answering the summon, just as he had straightforwardly told Hades before that he could lock him up in Tartarus for aiding Zagreus. His hovering lowered slightly as he cautiously returned, "Zagreus."

Judging from the way his eyes flickered between Mort and Zagreus, Than wouldn't be at ease until they put this issue to rest. "I've been thinking… that maybe I shouldn't have tried to use Mort then."

Than folded his arms, but he also floated a little closer. "I… wish I could have come to your aid, Zagreus," he said apologetically, though there was underlying resolve that rose to the surface for his next words. "But I won't be one to widen the rift further between you and your father. There must be some resolution between you two."

"You really are determined about that, aren't you?"

Something about the way Zagreus said that—or perhaps it was just that Than knew him so well, could catch the subtle hint of remembrance in his eyes and voice—tipped Than off. "You heard us."

"I did." There had been plenty of things surprising about the conversation Zagreus overheard between his father and Than, but to hear his father admit that this was Thanatos's realm, not his? It was then Zagreus realized that Than held the power to truly defy Hades, if he so chose.

 _Well, lad, would you think of him the same if he did?_ Achilles's words come echoing back to him.

If Than fought his father, he would be irreversibly choosing sides—No, not just that, he would be acknowledging that there _were_ sides, helping to cement their creation with that very action. That would worsen the possibility that Zagreus would ever reconciliate with his father. No, Than would not raise his blade against either of them; he raised his blade _for_ them. His endless work for his father, recognized by even Hades himself as irreplaceable. His short, precious breaks in between that he spent clearing shades for Zagreus.

And how much did Than value Zagreus, to use his opportunity for a breather from wielding his scythe to instead keep on doing so? Thinking of that filled Zagreus's chest even more so than the centaur hearts Than often bestowed upon him after such battles.

Zagreus realized, with the weight of Than's gaze upon him, that for once he had joined the other in his usual silence. How long had he been lost in thought, staring at Than? Was this the sort of thing Than usually had on his mind when he was quiet?

"I did," Zagreus repeated, "and… I'm grateful, Than." He stepped toward him. "You told me from the start you were risking everything for me, and I knew that, but..." That had really brought it home, so to speak. "You offered to be confined down here, to help me avoid the same fate."

And coming from Than, those hadn't been hollow words; he always meant everything he said. Others might guess that Thanatos knew Hades wouldn't go through with it, that he was too essential to the Underworld running smoothly, but Than wouldn't abuse his power like that. Zagreus knew now more than ever he wasn't that type of person. If he had been, it was unlikely that he would be serving under Hades, who even in his current position as the master acknowledged this place was Thanatos's.

"Thank you, truly." Zagreus could say something about how he would have broken Than out anyway, much as he had won Orpheus's relative freedom, but that would diminish the true value of what Than had been willing to sacrifice.

"Tsch. Unlike you, I don't run headlong into impulses. I think things through before I act. I was fully prepared to accept the consequences of being found out." Than lifted his chin, though his eyes remained firmly on Zagreus's. The steel of his unwavering gaze was not intimidating to Zagreus, not when he knew of the devotion at its root, the unspoken _for you_ at the end.

Zagreus laughed, affection woven into the sound. "Of course." Then he grew more serious again. "I know this whole situation isn't fair to you, Than. But I want you to know I have no more intention of becoming trapped up there than down here." He drew even closer to Than, reaching out to cup his face. "I will find a way out of here, yes, but I will find my way back to you. I swear it."

Thanatos looked into those burning eyes, one of above the surface, one of below, and believed. Subtly, he let a little weight settle into Zagreus's hand as he replied, with less scorn and more fondness than the last time it'd come up, "You couldn't escape me if you tried."

"I would never want to," Zagreus said softly before leaning in to kiss him.

The warmth of Zagreus's lips, so flush with life, brought a lightness to Thanatos's chest, rare down here in this place where darkness reigned. His fingers curled around the back of Zag's head, cradling it like something precious. (He was.) Zag's hand under his chin shifted to do the same, grazing gently over the short hairs of Thanatos's undercut.

Thanatos moved to draw Zagreus against him, but his free hand didn't encounter the other's, instead sinking into plush fabric. Surprised, Thanatos withdrew slightly to peer down: ah, yes, that familiar texture was Mort, still in Zag's grasp.

Zagreus opened his eyes to see what had caught Thanatos's attention. "Oh, Mort," he said with a chuckle. "It seems I have a lot to thank him for, too."

"Do you now," Thanatos said dryly, though a smile was tugging at his lips. "Then, if you're done with thanking _me_ —"

Zag grabbed onto his wrist. "Don't even think about it."

And if one of Thanatos's rare laughs didn't quite make it out because of the speed of Zagreus's next kiss, that was all right. There were more to be had this day—or night.

**Author's Note:**

> Obligatory disclaimer that I haven't written fanfic since I was literally about half my current age... but the Hades game with its wonderfully canon Thanzag sucked me in completely. 
> 
> So this actually sort of happened to me while I was playing the game. I honestly forgot about being able to use Mort the first time I faced Hades. Then on a later attempt, when I finally remembered to use Mort, I got that Summon Unavailable! prompt… And I was disappointed, but I thought it was fair, and I started thinking more deeply into potential in-character explanations for why it was so. This is the result: my sort of character study of Thanatos! In the game, I feel like Thanatos does a lot of deep thinking about Zagreus and his situation even when he's away, and it shows in his understanding as you have more conversations with him. While I don't think Zagreus is as naturally introspective as Than, I think that he tries to reciprocate at times too. Zag is thoughtful in his own way, the sweet boy <3
> 
> Please feel free to come talk to me about Thanzag! I'm bursting with feels for these two!! I'm also on Twitter: @PiercedKeepsake (because PiercedButterfly was too long for a Twitter handle)


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